Irish University Guide: Trinity College

Trinity College Dublin, founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592, is the oldest university in Ireland and one of the older universities of Western Europe.
Modeled on Oxford and Cambridge, the campus extends over 47 acres in a unique site in the heart of the city. It is made up of five quadrangles with many buildings dating back to the 18th century. The most notable, and the one most recognizable to foreign visitors, is the Old Library, home to the priceless 8th century manuscript “The Book of Kells.”
One of Ireland’s major tourist attractions, Trinity College is also an intimate part of the city at whose heart it stands, crossed by hundreds of Dubliners who use it as a daily thoroughfare. More important, Trinity is central to Irish life. Many of the famous people of Irish letters and history were educated at Trinity, among them the writers such as Jonathon Swift, Oliver Goldsmith, Oscar Wilde, and Samuel Beckett, as well as Ireland’s first president, Douglas Hyde. Both the current president of Ireland, Mary McAleese, and her predecessor, Mary Robinson, taught in the School of Law at Trinity College.
Trinity is widely regarded as Ireland’s leading university. It tops the rankings of Irish universities published by the Sunday Times. It attracts students of the highest caliber and educates them to a very high standard. Trinity prides itself also on its tradition of personal contact between staff and students, encouraged by its collegiate atmosphere. This personal contact is at least partly responsible for the success of our students, both in their academic discipline and later in their careers.
The vigor of a university may be judged by its commitment to research. In the early 21st century, this often takes the form of partnership with major international companies or of interinstitutional cooperation within the framework of programs of the European community, and in both Trinity is in a leading position in Ireland. It has an excellent record in research and produces more high-impact research publications than other Irish universities. In many fields, the library is the heart of research activity, and here Trinity is particularly fortunate. With a collection of approximately 4.25 million volumes, the College Library is one of the largest in Europe. Along with the British Library in London and the university libraries at Oxford and Cambridge, it enjoys the privilege of receiving all Irish and UK copyright material.
Trinity College attracts students from many parts of the U.S. who come to study for the full four-year undergraduate programs, postgraduate degrees or as study abroad students. U.S. students have traditionally found Trinity’s uniquely international mix of faculty and students an ideal place to develop mature reflections on their academic disciplines and the challenges of the contemporary world in a safe and invigorating place.
Trinity College also has active alumni of over 67,000 with several thousand alumni members in the U.S. Alumni branches currently exist in Boston, Chicago, Florida, the Mid-Atlantic region, Los Angeles, New York City, upstate New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Texas.